Chapter 5 - The File Ethan Never Wanted FoundGrace didn't sleep that night.
She tried.
She really tried.
After her brothers left the living room around three in the morning, after Daniel finally convinced her to lie down, after Michael made sure there was water beside her bed, and after James told her for the tenth time that he would answer the phone no matter what time it was...
She closed her eyes.
But every time she did, she heard the sound again.
The slap.
The one sound that changed the way she saw everything.
It wasn't the pain on her cheek that kept her awake.
That would fade.
It was the realization that the man who had promised to protect her had become the person she needed protection from.
Grace placed her hand over her stomach.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
She didn't know if she was apologizing to herself.
To the baby.
Or to the younger version of herself who had believed love could fix anything.
For years, she had believed patience was the same thing as strength.
Now she wondered if sometimes patience was just another word for staying too long.
At 6:15 a.m., Grace heard footsteps downstairs.
She expected Ethan.
Instead, she found James standing in the kitchen.
He was already dressed.
A folder sat on the counter.
Grace frowned.
"You didn't sleep."
James looked at her.
"Neither did you."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
"What is that?"
James looked down at the folder.
"Something I didn't want to show you."
That immediately worried her.
"What is it?"
He hesitated.
And Grace knew.
Whatever was inside that folder was worse than she expected.
"James."
He took a breath.
"Yesterday, when I spoke with Victor Reynolds..."
Grace remembered.
The phone call.
The way Ethan changed when James mentioned it.
"What did he tell you?"
James opened the folder.
Inside were documents.
Financial records.
Contracts.
Emails.
Grace looked confused.
"Why do you have these?"
"Because Victor sent them after our call."
"Why would he send them to you?"
James looked at her.
"Because he knows something Ethan doesn't want you to know."
Grace slowly sat down.
"Tell me."
James placed the first document in front of her.
"Walker Development isn't just struggling."
She looked at the numbers.
"What does that mean?"
James pointed.
"Ethan has been moving money."
Grace stared.
"Moving?"
"Between accounts."
Her eyes moved across the pages.
She didn't understand everything.
But she understood enough.
"Ethan wouldn't steal."
James didn't answer.
That scared her.
"James."
He sat across from her.
"I'm not saying he stole."
A pause.
"I'm saying someone inside the company has been hiding money problems."
Grace looked at the papers.
"And you think it's Ethan?"
"I think Ethan knows more than he's admitting."
The sound of footsteps interrupted them.
Ethan appeared at the doorway.
His face immediately changed when he saw the documents.
"What are you doing?"
James didn't turn around.
"Reading."
Ethan walked closer.
"Those are private company documents."
Grace looked up.
"Why did Victor send them to James?"
Ethan stopped.
Just for a second.
But Grace noticed.
She noticed everything now.
"I asked you a question."
Ethan looked at her.
"Because Victor likes causing problems."
James laughed.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"He said the exact opposite."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"What did he say?"
James leaned back.
"He said he was worried about Grace."
That caught Ethan off guard.
"Why?"
James looked at him.
"Because he believes she has been kept in the dark about things that directly affect her."
Silence.
Grace felt cold.
"Directly affect me?"
Ethan looked away.
"Grace..."
"No."
Her voice was stronger this time.
"Don't say my name like that."
She stood.
"I need answers."
Ethan sighed.
"Business is complicated."
"No."
She shook her head.
"Marriage is complicated."
She pointed at the documents.
"Business is paperwork."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Ethan said nothing.
Again.
The silence.
The same silence that had become his answer.
James picked up another document.
"This one is interesting."
Ethan's expression changed.
"What is it?"
James looked at him.
"A personal guarantee."
Grace frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Michael entered the kitchen at that exact moment.
He had come back after dropping off his wife.
He heard the last sentence.
"It means Ethan used personal assets to secure company debt."
Grace looked at him.
"How personal?"
Michael looked at the paper.
Then at Ethan.
"Your house."
Grace froze.
"What?"
Ethan immediately stepped forward.
"I was going to tell you."
"When?"
She laughed softly.
"After the bank took it?"
"Grace, I had a plan."
"You had a plan?"
Her voice cracked.
"You had a plan while I was decorating this house for our anniversary?"
Ethan looked hurt.
"I was trying to protect you."
The words made everyone stop.
Grace stared.
"Protect me?"
"Yes."
"By lying?"
"I didn't want you to worry."
She looked at him.
"You didn't want me to worry?"
A tear appeared.
"You didn't want your pregnant wife to worry, so you decided she should know nothing about her own life?"
Ethan looked away.
Then Daniel entered.
He had been outside making a phone call.
His expression was different.
Serious.
"Guys."
Everyone turned.
"What happened?" James asked.
Daniel looked at Ethan.
"I checked something."
Ethan immediately became defensive.
"Checked what?"
Daniel ignored him.
"Lauren Pierce."
The room became silent.
Grace's stomach tightened.
"What about her?"
Daniel placed his phone on the table.
"I found something."
James looked at the screen.
Then Michael.
Then Grace.
Nobody spoke.
Because the information changed everything.
Lauren Pierce wasn't just a consultant.
She wasn't just a woman Ethan had an affair with.
She had a connection to Walker Development.
A very important one.
Grace looked at Ethan.
"Who is she?"
Ethan didn't answer.
James did.
"She's the daughter of the man who owns the company that bought Ethan's failed Southgate project."
Grace felt the room spin.
"What?"
Michael continued.
"And that's not the strangest part."
He turned the phone around.
A photograph appeared.
Ethan.
Lauren.
And another man.
Taken three months earlier.
Before Grace ever heard Lauren's name.
Daniel spoke quietly.
"They weren't having a business meeting."
Grace stared at the picture.
"When was this taken?"
Daniel looked at the date.
"Three months ago."
Three months.
Before the affair.
Before the late nights.
Before the anniversary dinner.
Grace looked at Ethan.
"How long have you known her?"
Ethan opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
James stepped forward.
"Answer her."
Ethan finally spoke.
"Almost a year."
Grace felt something inside her collapse.
A year.
She had been living beside a stranger for a year.
A year of smiles.
A year of lies.
A year of believing everything was fine.
"Why?"
Her voice was barely audible.
"Why did you let me believe you loved me?"
Ethan looked broken.
But Grace couldn't tell anymore if he was broken because he hurt her...
Or because he had finally been exposed.
Then James noticed something else.
A second message on Daniel's phone.
He picked it up.
Read it.
And his face changed.
"What?"
Michael asked.
James slowly looked at Ethan.
"There's more."
Ethan went pale.
"What?"
James turned the phone around.
The message was from an unknown number.
One sentence.
"Ask Ethan why Lauren was paid to enter his life."
The kitchen went silent.
Grace looked at her husband.
And for the first time...
May you like
She wondered if Lauren had never been the person who destroyed her marriage.
Maybe Lauren was only part of a much bigger plan.
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